Fun From The Corner

Matt Lauer began the Today Show this morning this way: "Good morning, judging the judge. The battle lines are drawn over Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. Conservatives love him but some Democrats are already lining up to fight his nomination.” It's the usual media designation (especially popular in the New York Times) that conservatives don't face liberals, they only face Democrats, ideology uncharacterized. Katie Couric added: "A down and dirty fight is looming over the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. Conservatives are ecstatic about this, liberals, meanwhile are very anxious. The key issue, would Alito overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision back in 1973 legalizing abortion.” That's another favorite media term: “superprecedents” they like are always “landmark” decisions.

Gotta love it. Matt Lauer offends Tim Graham by juxtaposing conservatives with Democrats, exactly what the media always does. Then, in the next sentence, Katie Couric pits conservatives against liberals, with neither plaudits nor notice from Graham. Guess that line didn't set off the Graham's persecution complex, so it slipped by unnoticed.

It does, of course, make sense that conservatives, who proudly use their ideological designation, would be identified by it more often than liberals, who are scared of L Word. In my writing, I tend to use Democrats, progressives, liberals, and left interchangeably, and I'm similarly undiscriminating with the right. What I lose in precision I make up in variety. And, of course, left-wing bias. Bias I learned from noted liberal Democrat Stanley Kurtz. Here's a graf from him that appears a bit farther down the page:

On the other hand, a failed filibuster against this qualified a nominee will be an even bigger victory. A filibuster will inundate us with repetitive analyses of the Casey decision. But there is nothing in that decision that will carry a majority of the public against Alito. Conservatives will be infuriated by the attempted “borking,” the Democrats will look obstructionist, and the filibuster will fail. If anything, that would be even better politically for the president and the Republicans.